Topic C

In the culturally expressed novel, “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” by Khaled Hosseini, Mariam's experiences early in the novel would prove to haunt her for the rest of her days. As a child, Mariam grew up being a harami, bastard, in her mother’s eyes and an illegitimate shameful child in her father’s eyes. Her mother would tell her, "I'm all you have in this world, Mariam, and when I'm gone you'll have nothing. You'll have nothing. You are nothing!" which indeed affected her life from there on after (Pg 27). She felt worthless and it carried on to her marriage. She often had moments where she reflected on what her mother used to tell her and felt as though her mother was right, that she was worthless, no one wanted her. Even her very own husband depreciated her value and she felt as though she had no other choice but to accept it. Towards the end of the novel, “Mariam remembered the dim glimmer of cold stars and the stringy pink clouds streaking over the Safidkoh mountains that long-ago morning when Nana had said to her, Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam.” (Pg 363). Her mother’s words never left her, even in her last days.